| Duration: | 15 Day(s) - 14 Night(s) |
| Tour Category: | Culture Tours |
Day 01: Arrival and Visit Addis Ababa
Welcome to Ethiopia!
On arrival in Addis Ababa, you are met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is at your leisure. Please note this is an arrival day, so you may arrive at any time. If you arrive early, an optional visit to the National Museum can be arranged.
Addis Ababa is a bustling city, dotted with Italian architecture, interesting churches, and friendly inhabitants. It is also a city of immense contrasts the Addis Sheraton, with its ˜singing fountain’ is one of the most luxurious in all of Africa, yet you only need to travel a few streets away to find yourself among busy markets. The city is relatively new established by Emperor Menelik II in 1887, and at 2,500m has the distinction of being the third-highest capital in the world.
A visit to the Entoto Hills offers a beautiful view of the city. Take a walk through the area covered with Eucalyptus or visit the Entoto Maryam church.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Soramba Hotel Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 70 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 02: Drive to Arbaminch
Morning after breakfast meet with Exploring Ethiopia staff (driver and guide) at your preferred departure point and time, and start driving down south. There is a long drive to Arbaminch via Hossana. This is the region inhabited by the people of the Guragie, who were once nomads but are now farmers. the drive will take you along the scenic farmlands of the Gurage People stop at UNESCO Tiya Steal Filed to visit the 12th century.
We will also drive through the Wolayta farmlands, with views of the lush green hills and valleys, late afternoon arrival at Arbaminch- meaning 'Forty Springs' in Amharic. Arbaminch takes its name from the bubbling streams that cover the groundwater forest occupying the flats of the town. A long section of the road offers magnificent views of Lake Abaya, surrounded by mountains. The lake has volcanic origins and is almost pink.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Mora Height Lodge or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 450 km and 8 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 03: Visit Arbaminch
This morning we enjoyed a boat trip on Lake Chamo – one of the best in Ethiopia. There is a chance to spot many hippos and large concentrations of giant crocodiles.
Water birds abound and the scenery is truly unforgettable. The lake is about 32km long and provides a lush wetland habitat for many species of flora and fauna. The small town of Chencha is the home of the Dorze, a tribe of only a few thousand individuals. You can visit a village, where you will see huge beehive huts, made of wood and bamboo. Take a look at one of those Dorze houses and marvel at how humans and animals can live together in harmony. The Dorze are known throughout the rest of Ethiopia for their weaving.
The tribesmen also travel over land and sea to sell their highly sought-after clothing and blankets. The women spin the cotton and the men operate the loom. The Dorze have settled in the Guge Mountains, where they are mainly engaged in agriculture. Terraced hills are developed to prevent erosion. A look around the market is a great end to your visit.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Mora Height Lodge or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 90 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 04: Drive to Turmi
Early in the morning after breakfast, you will drive to Turmi. On the way stop at KONSO to visit the Konso tribe with their king- UNESCO registered site for their extensive terracing and practice of making a wooden grave mark for their hero and kings, continue driving and late afternoon arrival to Turmi. This is the home of several intriguing groups, each with its own culture and traditions. Animism and belief in the ancestors play a major role here. Most tribes live a semi-nomadic life where agriculture and animal husbandry are the main means of livelihood.
Turmi is the home of the Hamar, a people known for its emphasis on appearance. The women spend hours every day on their hair, smearing it with butter and clay. Sometimes the hairstyles are decorated with shells or pieces of tin. Bodies are greased with oil and clay and decorated with necklaces and bracelets. The men have a similar ritual. Some carry an ostrich feather in their hair as a sign of bravery, signifying the defeat of a dangerous foe.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Turmi Lodge or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 270 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 05: Visit Turmi
Friday This day early in the morning after breakfast drive 73 km west to visit the Dassench/Geleb people; who inhabited the bank of the Omo River we cross the Omo River by locally made boat to see the village, then drive to Dimeka Market to attend the weekly colorful market of the HAMER tribe then drive back to Turmi afternoon break in the lodge late afternoon walk from the lodge to the village to visit the HAMER tribe with their way of life interaction with their way of life.
The weekly market in Dimeka is a fascinating spectacle. From far and wide Galeb, Arbore, Hamar, and Karo arrive at the market with their merchandise.
It is an ideal place to meet! In the market, you will find tea, honey, milk, Hamar coffee, butter, bananas, goats, and cows, but also beads, necklaces, and other jewelry. Aside from consumption, the butter is also used to lubricate hair and skin. Around the market, you can find several “drinking premises” where the Hamar sells their own brewed mead. There is a vibrant atmosphere here and you can quite easily spend a whole day exploring.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Turmi Lodge or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 170 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 06: Visit Karo
This morning we begin with a memorable excursion to the Karo Tribe (approx 63km drive), who–are very famous for their body painting. The Karo people use clays and locally available vegetable pigments to trace fantastic patterns on each other’s faces, chests, arms, and legs. Karo men, as with neighboring tribes, are also famous for their unique hairstyle. In the afternoon we visit a Hamer village.
The Hamer tribe (also called Hammer or Hamar) is one of the largest groups in the Valley. The Hamer cultivate millet, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton as well as raise cattle and goats. They are known for the fine pottery they produce as well as their remarkable hairstyling.
Most dramatic of all are the clay hair buns with ostrich feathers that the men don when they have killed a fierce animal. These hair buns stay on for 3-6 months at a time. The women wear beaded necklaces and iron coils around their arms and decorate their skin with cowry shells. These decorations indicate the wealth and prestige of a woman’s husband. Return to Turmi in the evening.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation:
Consultant Note-
You will drive 170 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 07: Drive to Jinka
Today you make your way towards Mago National Park, one of the most secluded natural areas of Ethiopia with a variety of beautiful landscapes such as savannah interspersed with desert, mountains, rolling hills, and rivers. It is the domain of birds, crocodiles, hippos, fish, kudus, gazelles, and monkeys, although most animals reside deep in the park. Naturally, a certain amount of flexibility and your sense of adventure are both required!
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Jinka Resort or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 220 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 08: Mago National Park - Jinka
The 4 WD vehicles set off into the rugged landscape of the Mago National Park. The trip to Mago is very dependent upon the state of the ‘road’. During and just after the rainy season, the area is less accessible. Even in the dry season, the ride through the park can be heavy and adventurous.
Along the way, you’ll visit the Mursi people. Mursi women wear large round clay discs in their lower lip which according to some, symbolizes beauty or social status. Mursi men decorate their bodies and faces with white paint as a sign of strength. A visit to the Mursi is complicated and the people are not especially friendly. We strongly recommend that you listen keenly to all the agreements that the guide makes, including those regarding the taking of photos in the village. In the afternoon, you return to Jinka.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Jinka Resort or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 270 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 09: Jinka - Key Afer - Arbaminch
Not far from Jinka is Key Afar, where the landscape is characterized by dry savannas with termite mounds, acacias, and some scattered shrubs. Key Afar is the home of the Ari and Banna peoples who meet weekly at the bustling market. The women stand together in groups to get some business going, making lots of chatter and gestures.
The weekly market gives you the chance to enjoy ingenious costumes, exquisite jewelry, beads, body decorations, ostrich feathers, and goatskins, for one last time. The smell of butter, ocher, and oil completes the picture. After the market, you’ll continue to Arbaminch.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Mora Height Lodge or Similar
Consultant Note-
You will drive 270 km and 7 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 10: Drive to Jimma
On the way, we cross the magnificent and picturesque Gibe gorge and the Gibe River. After driving through a coffee and chat plantation. Jimma was the capital of the former Keffa province. It is in this region that the coffee beans originated for the first time by a shepherd. Now Oromo, Kefecho, and Kulo people inhibit Jimma.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Central Hotel
Consultant Note-
You will drive 390 km and 8 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 11: Drive to Bebeka
En route, we will visit the coffee plantation, Ethiopia’s largest old coffee plantation. On the way visit the Menit tribe. After crossing the Akobo River, you experience the African Savanna grassland and on the way visit the Orom, Kefecho, and Bench tribes in their village.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: -
Consultant Note-
You will drive 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 12: Drive Tulgit
Drive to Tulgit, the settlement for the Surma people. The Surma or Suri women are majorly known for having a culture of lip-plating and the men are also famous for a stick fighting ceremony called Donga. In the plains of south-western Ethiopia where the Suri herd their highly-prized cattle, competition for land is always fierce and they pride themselves on the scars that they carry. Village discussions are led by elders and the Komoru – a ritual chief.
The Komori all come from the same clan and are chosen by consensus. Each household is run by a woman. The women have their fields and dispose of the proceeds as they wish. The money they make from selling beer and grain can be used to buy goats, which they then trade for cattle.
Cattle are enormously important to the Suri. They bring status; when two Suri meet they’ll ask each other how many cows they have. Cows are a store of wealth to be traded, and a source of milk and blood. Bleeding a cow is more efficient than slaughtering it for meat, and blood can be drawn during the dry season when there’s less milk. An animal can be bled once a month, from the jugular.
The animals aren’t generally sold or killed for meat, though they are slaughtered for certain ceremonies. They are treated with reverence. Fires are lit to keep them warm and to protect against insect bites, they are covered with ash.
Every boy is given a young bull to look after, and his friends call him the name of his bull. The Suri sing songs in praise of their cattle and mourn them when they die. One theory goes that it was meant to discourage slavers from taking the women. It’s undoubtedly painful. Once a girl reaches a certain age, her lower incisors are knocked out and her bottom lip is pierced and stretched until it can hold the clay plate. When it comes to religious beliefs, the Suri have a sky god, Tuma, an abstract divine force. There is no real veneration of the earth or earth spirits.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Comping
Consultant Note-
You will drive 270 km and 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 13: Drive Kibish
We will arrange your mules for your equipment and yourself also. And you will experience a walk through Savanna grassland. if there is any Donga (Stick fighting of the Surma people) we will attend it otherwise we walk around the old Kibish village (14kms round trip) the visit more of the Surma villages-to visit and appreciate the very attractive culture of the Surma tribe, they are renowned for the strange custom followed by their women who, on reaching maturity, have their lower lips slit and circular or rectangular clay discs inserted The rest of the day you finalize the arrangement of the team for the next trek to the next site.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Comping
Consultant Note-
You will drive 7 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 14: Drive back to Jimma
Drive to Jimma, with a stop at waterfalls on the way, for short walking too. Reach Jimma and visit the Aba Jifar palace, the old king's house + the museum of all his artifacts, and more, in town.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Central Hotel
Consultant Note-
You will drive 6 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
Day 15: Drive to Addis Ababa
Heading to Addis Ababa we will be driving 330 km to Addis Ababa. we will stop at Walkite for lunch. En route, we will be visiting the Gurage and Oromo people and their beautiful villages. On the way, we cross the Gibe Gorge and the River. Evening you will have a fare well dinner in one of the Ethiopian restaurants for cultural dinner and dances from the different ethnic groups. Transfer to the airport departure to home and the tour will end.
Transportation: Land cruiser
Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: -
Consultant Note-
You will drive 330 km and 7 hours’ drive time
Game drive varies the time of arrival
This trip can be tailor-made at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget, and requirements as necessary.
